It was the great Franco-American experiment: Five fashion designers from each country would show collections at a runway spectacular in a historic collaboration. The location was equally historic: The Queen’s Theatre at the French Palace of Versailles, the restoration of which would be the beneficiary for the gala evening.

But it wasn’t just the coming together of the two countries in 1973 that brought this other revolution to the palace. The night was also a watershed moment for people of color in the industry with African American models and one African American designer giving the Battle of Versailles, as it would later be known, its ecstatic joie de vivre.

At a screening of Deborah Riley Draper’s 2012 documentary “Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution” recently presented by SFFILM at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Phyllis Wattis Theater, two of the battle’s key participants, model Pat Cleveland and American designer Stephen Burrows, explained the significance of that long-ago evening in conversation with fashion designer Kevan Hall.

“Stephen brought those rainbow colors to Versailles,” Cleveland, 68, said of Burrows’ vibrant signature aesthetic. “He also brought rainbow people to Versailles.”

The Battle of Versailles had all the ingredients to become the stuff of fashion legend. Storied designers Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, Marc Bohan for Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy represented the French, while Seventh Avenue superstars Burrows, Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Klein and Bill Blass became Team America. Riley’s “Versailles ’73” is one of two documentaries made about the fashion show, and has been optioned for a feature film. Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan’s book “The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into the Spotlight and Made History” is also being adapted for HBO by filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

But it wasn’t just the disco spirit of the era, the superstar turns by performers Josephine Baker and Liza Minnelli or even the clothes that stole the show. Of the 36 American models hired, 10 were women of color — a major breakthrough.

“It was an incredibly important moment in American fashion and the perception of American fashion globally,” said H by Halston fashion director and author Cameron Silver, who also narrates the documentary. “It’s also when the color barrier of the runway was destroyed.”

It’s an interesting event to look back on in 2018, when campaigns for diversity both on the runway and behind the scenes in fashion have been major priorities. Fashion Spot’s fall 2018 diversity report showed that last season, “more women of color walked the runway than ever before.”

For a breakdown: Of 242 shows and 7,608 model appearances in New York, London, Milan and Paris, the Fashion Spot reported that 32.5 percent of castings went to models of color, up from spring 2018’s 30.2 percent.

It’s also significant to note that designers of color have made headway in recent years at major fashion houses with Off-White designer Virgil Abloh’s first men’s collection for Louis Vuitton bringing back Burrows’ rainbow effects on the runway, Hood By Air’s Shayne Oliver taking the directorship at Helmut Lang and Olivier Rousteing continuing to bring Balmain mega-sales. Fashion publishing has had some major breakthroughs in diversity in recent years with Edward Enniful becoming the first African American editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017 and the rumored September cover of American Vogue (featuring Beyoncé) being the first shot by a black photographer, Tyler Mitchell.

With Versailles in mind, are we in another revolutionary moment for representation in 2018? Burrows, 75, said that overall the business of fashion can be more difficult for designers of color given new economic realities.

“You used to be able to start a collection for $5,000,” said Burrows. “Now, it’s $5 million.” Of course, he pointed out that, in 2018, while there might not be the overt racism in the industry he experienced on Seventh Avenue in the ’70s — “I had a customer walk in, see I was black, and then leave,” he said — representation is still far from equal.

Cleveland sees the present day as having “more opportunities” for more types of models. She described the situation that for years models of color found themselves in: “Like when someone sees a rough diamond, and then because of people’s interest it starts to sparkle. But the diamond was already sparkling.”

The Battle of Versailles was significant for Kevan Hall, 61, the former creative director at Halston as well as the designer of his own eponymous collection, when he was coming of age in the 1970s. He recalls seeing Burrows and Cleveland in the W Magazines of the era, affirming there was a place for him in the industry.

“I think that we have a long way to go, but I think stores are more open to more designers,” said Hall. “I’ve seen the face of the industry change, with so many young black designers doing great street wear, the market has shifted and is appreciating that aesthetic now.”

But in the age of social media and fashion-week overload, could a runway show ever capture popular imagination with the same strength that the Battle of Versailles did almost 50 years ago?

“No,” said Burrows. “The time has changed — it’s not like Americans have never worked in Paris. They work in Paris all the time now. It wouldn’t be the same impact it was then.”

“There’s been some progress, but I don’t think it has had the profound impact that Versailles had,” said Silver. “You also have a whole new kind of fashionista and influencer; the significance of the runway has depleted.”

For Cleveland, the Battle of Versailles was a magical moment in a career full of them.

“I think the spirit of people wanting to discover something is still there,” said Cleveland. “In that time we didn’t have Instagram to take pictures, we were so in the moment walking down the Hall of Mirrors. The walls just broke open like one big heart throbbing. When you feel dignified and are wearing good clothes, it opens doors. It opened the doors at Versailles!”

Tony Bravo is a Style reporter and frequent contributor to Datebook and Green State. He writes Style’s Connectivity column and is the primary stylist for the section’s Bay Area fashion shoots. Bravo has been the New York Fashion Week correspondent since 2013 and specializes in stories about the cultural impact of clothing. He is an adjunct instructor at the City College of San Francisco Fashion Department and a fourth-generation San Franciscan.